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February 25, 2011

What’s Inside An Oscar?

If you asked any actor or film worker what an Oscar is made out of, the answer would be simple – hard work. The prize given out yearly by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is easily the most coveted award in film. Of course, when you ask the experts at Cash for Gold USA what’s inside an Oscar, you’re likely to get a much more practical answer – that having to do with the precious metals the statue is made out of.

For those who are unfamiliar with the history of the Oscar, it was first given out in 1939 as a modern award. The Academy did give out awards prior to the Oscar, but prior to 1939 it was dubbed the Academy Award of Merit or simply the Academy Award. The design of the modern Oscar has been the same since 1939, but with minimal cosmetic changes. The statue itself is a visage of a knight standing at attention, plunging a sword into a reel of film the knight stands on. The change in design is in the number of spokes that the film reel has – originally it had 5, to represent the five branches of the Academy, but in modern times the Academy has 13 branches, so the statue was updated to reflect that change.

Cedric Gibbons was the person to come up with the design, which he sketched on a piece of paper and handed to George Stanley, who made the model up out of clay. The first Oscar was cast out of bronze and cost five hundred dollars.

In modern times, the statue is no longer made out of bronze due to the cost involved. According to the experts at Cash for Gold USA, the modern Oscar is actually made out of gold-plated brittanium. Sounds fancy, but the brittanium is primarily made out of tin! The Oscar weighs in at a neat eight and a half pounds.

Obviously, the feeling of success is worth more than any amount of gold. But if you’re looking for a real gold statue – don’t look at Oscar!